♦ Sudan: This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact digest of this week's most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan. Subscribe to receive this digest weekly in your inbox.

Sudan's mainstream SLM 'not interested' in negotiations with current govt

April 30 – 2021 JUBA / KHARTOUM The mainstream Sudan Liberation Movement under the leadership of Abdelwahid El Nur (SLM-AW) reaffirmed in a statement yesterday that it is not interested in negotiating peace with the current government.

The official spokesman for the movement, Abdelrahman El Nayer, stated that the movement is preparing arrangements for an ‘internal dialogue’ that is to be held between all Sudanese within Sudan.

He clarified that this initiative has nothing to do with the peace talks signed by the government and other rebel groups in Juba. The SLM-AW will not negotiate with the government using the old methodology “that has proven its failure to solve the national crisis”.

El Nur adheres to his position that the SLM-AW will only join peace negotiations after security and stability have been realised in Sudan’s conflict-torn western region.

MoH warns of overcrowding as COVID-19 cases rise and health situation is 'dire'

April 30 – 2021 KHARTOUM The director of the Khartoum state Health Ministry's General Administration described the health situation in Sudan as dire, with shortages of medicine and hospital beds.

All isolation centres are completely occupied, there is no oxygen available anymore, and there are no extra beds as the third COVID-19 wave spreads through the country.

The statistics issued by the Emergency and Epidemiology Department of the Federal Ministry of Health do not cover all cases, she said. The only solution for Sudan is rapid vaccination.

Earlier this month, medics raised alarm over the continuing medicine shortages and lack of health care funding.

World Press Freedom Day in Sudan: Still a lot of work to do
May 4 – 2021 KHARTOUM On the occasion of the official World Press Freedom Day yesterday, Sudanese journalist networks called for more press freedom and made statements against the repression of journalists. Sudan’s Prime …

COVID-19 in Sudan: State of Emergency as cases rise in North Kordofan
May 3 – 2021 EL OBEID / ATBARA / DONGOLA / SENNAR The Health Emergency Committee has declared a State of Health Emergency in North Kordofan in response to the sharp rise in COVID-19 infections during April. …

Rebel leader Minawi appointed governor of Darfur
May 3 – 2021 KHARTOUM On April 29, Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok issued a decree appointing Minni Minawi, leader of a breakaway faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement, as governor of the Darfur region. …

UN Security Council urged to extend Sudan-South Sudan UNISFA mandate
May 1 – 2021 NEW YORK Citing the volatile security situation, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, requested that the Security Council consider a six-month rollover of the UN Interim Security …

US Senator Coons to visit Sudan to discuss Ethiopian relations
May 1 – 2021 KHARTOUM US Senator Chris Coons, member of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Chris Van Hollen will arrive in Khartoum on Monday for a three-day visit. The delegation is visiting to discuss the latest …

Protests over violence in South Darfur
April 30 – 2021 EL SALAM / BIELEL People from El Salam locality, South Darfur, organised a vigil at the secretariat of the state government in Nyala yesterday to protest an attack on their village Gassat Enjemet in Wadi Bulbul last week. …

South Kordofan violence resurfaces as dozens are killed or wounded in tribal clashes
April 29 – 2021 GEDIR / KEDBER / DIBEBAD Dozens of people were killed or injured during tribal clashes that lasted for five consecutive days in the El Hamid district of Gedir, South Kordofan. Other violent events took place …

Hemeti: ‘Fighting within El Geneina city unprecedented in Darfur’
April 28 – 2021 EL GENEINA The fighting and ongoing violence that is occurring within El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, is unprecedented, according to the Vice Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’.